IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/umamer/2003024.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Health as a Principal Determinant of Economic Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Zon, Adriaan van
  • Muysken, Joan

    (MERIT)

Abstract

For a long time economists have tended to ignore health as a relevant factor of production and important determinant of economic growth. The widely observed positive relationship between health expenditures and economic growth was considered the result of a strong positive income effect. However, gradually more and more economists have come to recognise that the relationship between health and economic growth is not only demand driven, but that health is also an important determinant of economic growth. The latter has mainly been recognised on the basis of empirical cross-country studies, starting for developing economies (see Strauss and Thomas, 1998, for an overview) and later also covering Western economies (Knowles and Owen, 1995; Barghava cs., 2001; McDonald and Roberts, 2002; Webber, 2002). However, until this day only few attempts have been made to present a coherent account of the causal links between health and economic growth....

Suggested Citation

  • Zon, Adriaan van & Muysken, Joan, 2003. "Health as a Principal Determinant of Economic Growth," Research Memorandum 024, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:umamer:2003024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/rmpdf/2003/rm2003-024.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Strauss & Duncan Thomas, 1998. "Health, Nutrition, and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 766-817, June.
    2. Muysken, Joan & Yetkiner, I. Hakan & Ziesemer, Thomas, 1999. "Health, labour productivity and growth," CCSO Working Papers 200015, University of Groningen, CCSO Centre for Economic Research.
    3. Gary S. Becker & Casey B. Mulligan, 1997. "The Endogenous Determination of Time Preference," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 729-758.
    4. Don Webber, 2002. "Policies to stimulate growth: should we invest in health or education?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(13), pages 1633-1643.
    5. McDonald, Scott & Roberts, Jennifer, 2002. "Growth and multiple forms of human capital in an augmented Solow model: a panel data investigation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 271-276, January.
    6. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    7. Sherry Glied, 2003. "Health Care Costs: On the Rise Again," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 125-148, Spring.
    8. Warshawsky, Mark J., 1999. "An Enhanced Macroeconomic Approach to Long-Range Projections of Health Care and Social Security Expenditures as a Share of GDP," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 413-426, July.
    9. Muurinen, Jaana-Marja, 1982. "Demand for health: A generalised Grossman model," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 5-28, May.
    10. Meltzer, David, 1997. "Accounting for future costs in medical cost-effectiveness analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 33-64, February.
    11. David Meltzer, 1997. "Accounting for Future Costs in Medical Cost-Effectiveness Analysis," NBER Working Papers 5946, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Ehrlich, Isaac & Chuma, Hiroyuki, 1990. "A Model of the Demand for Longevity and the Value of Life Extension," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(4), pages 761-782, August.
    13. Forster, Bruce A, 1989. "Optimal Health Investment Strategies," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 45-57, January.
    14. Johansson, Per-Olov & Lofgren, Karl-Gustaf, 1995. "Wealth from optimal health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 65-79, May.
    15. Knowles, Stephen & Owen, P. Dorian, 1995. "Health capital and cross-country variation in income per capita in the Mankiw-Romer-Weil model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 99-106, April.
    16. van Zon, Adriaan & Muysken, Joan, 2001. "Health and endogenous growth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 169-185, March.
    17. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gong, Liutang & Li, Hongyi & Wang, Dihai, 2012. "Health investment, physical capital accumulation, and economic growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 1104-1119.
    2. Meysonnat, Aline & Muysken, Joan & Zon, Adriaan van, 2015. "Poverty traps: the neglected role of vitality," MERIT Working Papers 2015-052, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. LI, Hongyi & HUANG, Liang, 2009. "Health, education, and economic growth in China: Empirical findings and implications," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 374-387, September.
    4. Bai Yang, 2021. "Human Capital, Industrial Structure Upgrading and Economic Growth in China: A Literature Review," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(8), pages 1-59, July.
    5. Liutang Gong & Hongyi Li & Dihai Wang & Heng-fu Zou, 2010. "Health, Taxes, and Growth," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 11(1), pages 73-94, May.
    6. Dobrescu, Emilian, 2011. "Sectoral Structure and Economic Growth," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 5-36, September.
    7. Dihai Wang & Heng-fu Zou, 2011. "The Fogel Approach to Health and Growth," CEMA Working Papers 520, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
    8. Lacheheb, Miloud & Med Nor, Norashidah & Baloch, Imdadullah, 2014. "Health Expenditure, education and Economic Growth in MENA Countries," MPRA Paper 60388, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Serdar Kurt, 2015. "Government Health Expenditures and Economic Growth: A Feder Ram Approach for the Case of Turkey," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(2), pages 441-447.
    10. Yahong Liu & Shixin Huo, 2024. "Measurement of health human capital and its economic effect in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liutang Gong & Hongyi Li & Dihai Wang & Heng-fu Zou, 2010. "Health, Taxes, and Growth," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 11(1), pages 73-94, May.
    2. van Zon, Adriaan & Muysken, Joan, 2001. "Health and endogenous growth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 169-185, March.
    3. Dihai Wang & Heng-fu Zou, 2011. "The Fogel Approach to Health and Growth," CEMA Working Papers 520, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
    4. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2018. "Health, Environment, and Wealth," Izvestia Journal of the Union of Scientists - Varna. Economic Sciences Series, Union of Scientists - Varna, Economic Sciences Section, vol. 7(3), pages 109-123, December.
    5. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2018. "Dynamic Interactions Between Health, Human Capital and Wealth," Academicus International Scientific Journal, Entrepreneurship Training Center Albania, issue 17, pages 122-145, March.
    6. Michael Grossman, 1999. "The Human Capital Model of the Demand for Health," NBER Working Papers 7078, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Husain, Muhammad Jami, 2010. "Contribution of health to economic development: A survey and overview," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 4, pages 1-52.
    8. Martine AUDIBERT & Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Alassane DRABO, 2010. "Global Burden of Disease and Economic Growth," Working Papers 201036, CERDI.
    9. Lakdawalla, Darius N. & Phelps, Charles E., 2020. "Health technology assessment with risk aversion in health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    10. Erkan Erdil & I. Hakan Yetkiner, 2004. "A Panel Data Approach for Income-Health Causality," Working Papers FNU-47, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised Apr 2004.
    11. Nadide Halıcı-Tülüce & İbrahim Doğan & Cüneyt Dumrul, 2016. "Is income relevant for health expenditure and economic growth nexus?," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 23-49, March.
    12. Zon, A.H. van & Muysken, J., 1997. "Health, education and endogenous growth," Research Memorandum 006, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    13. Chen Jhy-hwa & Shieh Jhy-yuan & Chang Juin-jen, 2015. "Environmental policy and economic growth: the macroeconomic implications of the health effect," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 223-253, January.
    14. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2018. "Economic Growth and Health Dynamics with Government Subsidies for Healthcare," Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2018(3), pages 3-23.
    15. Alper Aslan & Angeliki Menegaki & Can Tugcu, 2016. "Health and economic growth in high-income countries revisited: evidence from an augmented production function for the period 1980–2009," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 937-953, March.
    16. Jude Eggoh & Hilaire Houeninvo & Gilles-Armand Sossou, 2015. "Education, Health And Economic Growth In African Countries," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 40(1), pages 93-111, March.
    17. I. Hakan Yetkiner, 2006. "Saglik ile Buyume," Ege Academic Review, Ege University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, vol. 6(2), pages 83-91.
    18. Samuel Perlo‐Freeman & Don J. Webber, 2009. "Basic Needs, Government Debt and Economic Growth," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(6), pages 965-994, June.
    19. Aysit Tansel & Ceyhan Ozturk & Erkan Erdil, 2021. "The Impact of Body Mass Index on Growth, Schooling, Productivity, and Savings: A Cross-Country Study," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2118, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    20. Sanso, Marcos & Aisa, Rosa M., 2006. "Endogenous longevity, biological deterioration and economic growth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 555-578, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economics ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unm:umamer:2003024. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Angie Figueroa Alarcon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.